System Failure
by SarahWritesShit
Summary: Danny and Sam have perfected a system that allows them to spend the night together without getting caught. However, on this occasion, human error comes into play, and they get caught red-handed.


**AN: I don't own Danny Phantom. Do people still need to write that before a fanfic? Everyone knows we don't own the rights to this shit. Is this just a tradition that's carried over from 2004 or something? Who knows? **

**Timeline because the writers of Danny Phantom literally didn't give a fuck about timelines:**

**This takes place after PP, the events of which, in my headcanon, happened from late August to early September. They only had one summer break (the one that began during Reality Trip). The school scenes that take place early on in season three were summer school (which makes sense, since they probably flunked some shit due to skipping school and turning stuff in late from ghost fighting). Where I'm from, summer school is only like a month-long, which leaves them time to go to summer camp during Claw of the Wild. So yeah, they're sophomores. Danny and Sam have been together for almost the entire school year, and they've been getting up to some fuckshit because they're one of those annoying couples who are just so in love that they just don't care. Hence, why they are sneaking around damn near every night. **

**BTW, the Fenton's have adopted Danielle by this point, and she's been living with them for a few months. She goes by Elle because she wants to be her own person uwu.**

**PS- the underlined "000" are page breaks/line breaks/scene changes, whatever. I put regular breaks in the original document, but they didn't show up upon uploading. They're ugly, but they serve their purpose. **

000

They had a system, a foolproof system at that. Danny's parents went to bed at 10:30 every night and were actually sleeping by 11. Every night for months—school nights, weekends, doesn't matter—Danny would sneak out at 11 on the dot, swing by Sam's place, and fly her back so they could spend the night together (of course, they did this at his house because getting caught by Danny's parents was much less… dangerous… than getting caught by Sam's parents). For school nights, Danny would always set an alarm for 5 am so he could take Sam back home before his parents had any chance of waking up. Since they worked from home, they didn't have a set schedule, but 5 am was a pretty safe bet, even when they were super devoted to a certain project. This system had worked without fail since around November.

It was late May now, and it was finals week. Danny, Tucker, and Sam were in the home stretch of their sophomore year of high school. Tomorrow, the last day of school, was also the day of Danny and Sam's hardest exams, English and chemistry respectively. Tucker, however, only had a gym final, which consisted of running the mile. It would be difficult for Tucker, but it's not exactly stressful or something one can study for.

Because of this, Tucker agreed to leave them alone and take patrol for the night. Danny and Sam decided they were going to study on their own in the afternoon so they could actually focus, and then they could study together later in the evening and quiz each other. Sam would spend the night as usual. Unfortunately for Danny, when Sam said study, she actually meant study. Danny thought she meant "study".

000

It was 3:15 in the morning. Danny was lounging at the head of his bed, propped up by some pillows, while Sam sat on his bean bag chair in the corner with her chemistry textbook resting on her lap. The room was dimly lit by the golden hue coming from the small lamp on Danny's bedside table.

Picking up just about the millionth notecard, Danny sleepily (and kind of begrudgingly) read the question, "The noble gases can't react with other elements. Why?"

"—because their valence electron layer is full, so they can't share electrons with other elements?" Sam said with a yawn.

"Sounds good to me," Danny said as he turned the flashcard over. "And look at that, you're right," he said with zero enthusiasm in his voice.

Sam yawned again, stretching her arms upward, "What time is it?"

"It's after three," Danny said.

"Shit," she said with a pause. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She lazily walked over to Danny's bed and laid down next to him. "I'm going to sleep. You feel good about your exam?"

"Yeah, I think I've done all the studying I can take," Danny said, moving Sam's flashcards over the bedside table and turning off the lamp.

Danny sunk down into the bed next to her, the entire left side of his body was touching the right side of her body. Even though his twin bed was cramped with her in it, he liked feeling her warmth next to him. He liked those times in the middle of the night when he could feel the weight of one of her arms or legs resting somewhere on his body. He loved being close to her, and he loved the comfort he felt when he heard the steady sound of her quiet breathing. He turned onto his left side and nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck, planting a soft kiss where his lips naturally landed. "G'night, babe," he mumbled, before drifting off to sleep.

000

"You've gotta be kidding me," Maddie said, rolling her eyes. Danny and Sam immediately shot up, sitting straight up in the bed. Danny's mom was standing in the doorway to the bedroom. She had one hand on the doorknob; the other hand was raised to her face. Her pointer finger and thumb were squeezing the bridge of her nose, as though she had a headache. Danny and Sam stared with their mouths agape, waiting for her to react.

Maddie moved her hand from her face, and pointed a finger at Sam, "do you have what you need to get ready?"

Sam nodded.

"Alright, well, you're getting ready here, I guess. That'll be faster. You guys overslept—you need to head out in a half-hour. Come downstairs when you're ready and grab something to eat."

Maddie closed the door, clearly upset, but trying to not completely lose her cool.

"We forgot to set the alarm," Sam said breathlessly.

"Yep," Danny said with a nervous squeak. After a slight pause, Danny sighed, and relaxed a little, "Well, we're caught. Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just get ready."

Sam admired the confidence and the devil-may-care attitude Danny had developed over the past few months. Ever since the Disasteroid crisis, relatively trivial things just didn't worry Danny anymore. Once something happened, he would just take care of business and move along, something Sam knew she needed to learn from him.

Danny and Sam got ready within minutes. Danny had far too much experience with oversleeping and had a routine down. Sam just decided to wear the sweatpants and t-shirt she slept in and gargle a bit of mouthwash. Going to school like this was better than going home to get ready properly and having to admit to her parents that she had slept over at her boyfriend's house. And at least this way she could spend the school day figuring out an excuse to give them.

They walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Danny's whole family—Jack, Maddie, Jazz, and Elle—were already down there. Maddie didn't look at them, but everyone else in the kitchen did.

Jazz, who was sitting at the table next to Elle, let out a loud giggle abruptly before biting her cheeks and covering her mouth, trying to snuff out the laughter.

Elle leaned over to her new sister and whispered, "I don't get it. What's funny?"

Jazz leaned over to Elle and placed a caring, but almost condescending hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she replied through a fit of repressed giggles.

Danny's father Jack, however, did not exercise the same restraint. Jack laughed with gusto as he walked over from the coffee pot to his son. He gave Danny a hard pat on the back and mumbled "sufferin' spooks" to himself as he sat down to join his daughters at the table, still laughing along with Jazz.

"Jack!" Maddie shouted, "Don't promote this!"

"Sorry Maddie," he said, still laughing, trying to make a straight face. Jack turned around in his chair to face his son and Sam, wagged his finger at them and said, "Don't you DARE do what everyone your age does when they're dating," Jack said as his laughter returned. Jazz was no longer trying to contain her laughter and instead joined in with her father.

"Oh, for God's sake! Danny, Sam, no more sleepovers, please!" Maddie shouted, cutting through the laughter in the kitchen.

"We were studying, Mrs. Fenton! I promise!" said Sam, who was thoroughly embarrassed at this point.

Maddie sighed. She could tell Sam felt guilty and humiliated, and she didn't want to make her feel worse. She walked over to Sam, who was still standing next to Danny in the doorway to the kitchen and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I understand, it is finals week, but—"

"But we're not stupid!" Jack interrupted.

"BUT," Maddie cut through her husband's voice, "we know the implications of this, and we will still need to have a conversation about this, okay?"

Sam nodded in response, looking down at her feet. Maddie's hand was still resting on her shoulder.

"I want both of you to come back here right after school," Maddie said and she turned around and walked back towards the kitchen table, "I'm going have a chat with you two without my husband".

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?!" Elle shouted in exasperation.


End file.
